Odisha:Ostracised Couple Slapped With Penalty Of ₹25 lakh For Marrying Outside Community

 Odisha Couple Ostracised: A couple in a  village of  Odisha was ostracised for marrying outside their respective communities. The village folks also imposed a penalty of  ₹25 lakh on them.

Maheswar Baske, who belongs to a tribal community Nialijharan village in Keonjhar district married a woman of another community earlier this year. This outraged the village folks as they protested against the marriage. This made Baske leave the village with his wife but the couple was forced to return as a lockdown during the second wave of COVID-19 was imposed in the country.

Odisha Couple Ostracised, Fined For Marrying Outside Community:

After the couple came back to the village, they were slapped with a penalty of ₹25.6 lakh. As per reports, the couple is now staying with Baske's mother outside the village at his uncle's place. The decision to ostracise the couple was taken by the village gram sabha.

“We have been barred from sharing water with village folks and nobody from Nialijharan is allowed to help us till we pay the fine. We are forced to live outside the village and I cannot pay the fine,” he said as per reports.

The Ghasipura police station inspector Manoranjan Bisi said he is investigating the case. The directive to probe the matter was first given by a court in Anandpur.

Similar cases:

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A 'caste panchayat' in Maharashtra's Akola district ordered a 35-year-old woman, who had remarried after divorce, to lick spit as punishment, police said. The woman filed a complaint with the police.